According to Jochen Bittner in the Planet in Progress blog, US President Barack Obama is not attending the EU-USA summit because of the continued lack of concurrence in Europe: "We've seen that the Lisbon Treaty has not kept one of its central promises. Europe continues to speak to the world not with one voice but with an entire chorus. The two senior offices that ought to change this, the permanent council president and the 'EU foreign minister' have not combined Europe's foreign-policy authority as was expected. ... Quite apart from the quarrels in Brussels, Obama's decision is understandable. Europe is not half as important as it thinks it is in the eyes of the American administration. Why should it be? The real opportunities and risks in world politics lie elsewhere. In China, in Afghanistan, in India and Latin America. ... For the Lisbon EU, the most painful insight into its role in the world may still lie ahead. Just imagine: Europe speaks with one voice and nobody listens." (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Jochen Bittner

Barack Obama's cancellation of the summit meeting with the EU comes as no surprise for business paper Hospodářské Noviny. The paper notes that he has already wasted time with the conflicting interests of the Europeans: "Different sources are saying that the surprising decision is a result of Obama's disappointing experiences just under a year ago in Prague. At the time it was said that the 27 European leaders only wanted to bathe in his glory. Obama spoke to his confidantes of having wasted his time. ... The cooling down of relations between Obama and Europe has many other reasons. America wants an independent and strong Europe that takes care of its own security, for example its energy security. In Washington they can't understand why Germany and Poland have totally conflicting opinions on this issue. Nor can they understand why some Europeans call for American bases yet at the same time sell strategic companies to the Russians."  (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, Czech)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Jan Macháček

The left-liberal daily De Standaard asks why US President Barack Obama should meet with the EU at all, since the latter has nothing to offer him: "Would [EU Council President Herman] Van Rompuy or [Spanish Premier José Luis Rodríguez] Zapatero or EU Commission Chairman [José Manuel] Barroso have anything to say to him about the EU's shared economic policies for addressing the fragile circumstances? About the European approach to China's new 'self-confident aggressiveness', with which Washington is increasingly confronted? Obama's cancellation should ring alarm bells in Brussels. In this fast-changing post-American world, the EU is threatened by irrelevance. ... To put it in Formula One language: While Europe is still sitting in the box working on its motor, the Chinese, Indian and Brazilian racing cars are driving faster and faster laps. Only when Europe speaks with one voice will it be taken seriously. If it doesn't, it is in danger of becoming irrelevant." (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Asia, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Bart Beirlant

As they agreed to during the climate conference in Copenhagen, more than 50 countries have submitted their national goals to the UN Climate Secretariat regarding the fight against global warming. However, says the left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung, the self-made goals reveal a collective failure: "All knowledge about climate protection has been shared. Its effects have already been felt by some countries and will soon be by all others. Technologies that allow growth without the burning of an infinite amount of raw materials are known and proven. ... Should countries like Japan and the EU nations not seize the initiative again, should Barack Obama fail with his climate law, there will also be no agreement in Mexico. But Japan is plagued right now more by the economic crisis than by climate issues, the EU - like the German government - has given up any leading role on climate change, and the prospects of a climate law in the USA have become dimmer. The fact that Mexico, the future host and the only emerging nation, has said nothing up to now about its climate goals speaks volumes." (03/02/2010)

» more information (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Global
All available articles from » Michael Bauchmueller

China's leadership has warned US President Barack Obama about meeting with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader. The diplomatic power game is a sign of a disquieting shift in the world's power balance, says the daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet: "It is a completely positive thing that the giant China's economy has awoken. If the world economy takes off again, China will play an important role in driving that upturn. The economic miracle there has lifted millions of Chinese out of the hopelessness of poverty. But if democracies lose economic power, their global position also weakens. ... The American 'imperium' is weakening, which many welcome. But such malicious joy can backfire. The USA is the most important democracy in the world. China is its largest dictatorship. It is not a matter of indifference who has the strongest economy. To think so is a major mistake." (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, Swedish)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » U.S., » Global, » China

Faced with a bribery scandal involving his party, the previous Christian Democratic Slovakian Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda announced that he will not run as a candidate in the parliamentary elections taking place in four months' time. The conservative daily Lidové Noviny praises Dzurinda for this decision and honours him for his major achievements for Slovakia: "Dzurinda made a mistake, but he will still go down in history as the greatest statesman of 20-years-young Slovakia. He secured its place in Western society, in NATO and the EU. He brought about far-reaching liberal reforms in the country, reforms which Prague leaders talked about but didn't dare even try to bring about. Even if he didn't achieve everything he set out to do, he left Slovakia as the most modern of all Visegrad states. His withdrawal is the only possible solution. But this withdrawal doesn't alter the fact that Dzurinda was a statesman of the kind that Premier Robert Fico will never be." (03/02/2010)

» more information (external link, Czech)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Slovakia
All available articles from » Luboš Palata

For around six months now non-authorised protests against the government have been held in Moscow on the last day of each month, and a number of demonstrators have been arrested. This could damage the popularity of Prime Minster Vladimir Putin, writes the daily Delo: "The arrests always trigger fierce reactions from the media and are condemned by the international community. It is therefore incomprehensible why the Russian government doesn't simply allow the gatherings to go ahead. Is it all about prestige, or are those in charge worried that the genie could escape from the bottle? It already has. The Russian news agency Ria Novosti had never before reported on the protests of the opposition, but this changed after one of its photographers was arrested during a protest. If state television started doing this ... Putin could be toppled from his throne as Russia's most popular politician." (03/02/2010)

» more information (external link, Slovenian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Social movements, » Russia
All available articles from » Polona Frelih

The Bulgarian Premier Boyko Borisoov didn't take into account the decisions of his own ministers when he agreed to President Georgi Parvanov's veto on the new law on cutting military expenditures. In this way, says the daily Dnevnik, Borisov - who heads a minority government - takes on the role of the opposition as well: "When one sees the speed with which Borisov overlooks the standpoints of members of the government and the parliamentary majority, the opposition might as well go on a ski holiday. ... With his support of the presidential veto, the premier has disgraced himself because it goes against the reform proposed by and insisted on by the defence minister of the [ruling party] Gerb. Borisov's move can be interpreted as a rejection of his own governing line, which sends a confusing signal to the parliamentary majority. He is like a general who jumps directly into the midst of the opposing camp waving a white flag." (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, Bulgarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Bulgaria, » Afghanistan

The reputation of politics is in urgent need of improvement, writes Josep M. Vallès in the left-liberal daily El País, adding that when politicians are discredited democracy disappears: "They're bad, incompetent, cynical, dishonest, opportunistic, manipulative and corrupt. ... In short: It's worrying that politicians are seen as part of the major problems. But it's not enough to blame them or even their actions for the increasing devaluation of all things public and political. Without accepting the proffered explanations ... entirely, we should bear them in mind if we want to give politics back its social relevance and above all necessary credibility. For a total rejection of politics and politicians would subject society to the brutal law of survival of the fittest."       (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Spain
All available articles from » Josep M. Vallès

Italian politics has committed suicide, writes Filippo Rossi in online magazine Fare Futuro: "Politics has killed itself because it no longer believes in its role, in its function. It has overdosed on its anti-party and anti-institution stance, stuffed itself with the pills of hopelessness, hanged itself on the rope of distrust, shot itself with a bullet of pure cynicism. So what is presented as politics nowadays is merely an ectoplasm of what politics should be, an avatar that pursues interests other than the public good. ... Politics has been sacrificed at the alter of false affiliations, of empty rhetoric, of party interests and lacking ideals. It has committed suicide in the name of bureaucracy, political trends, candidatures, careers. It has forgotten itself and its true raison d'être, that of writing the collective story of our future." (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Italy
All available articles from » Filippo Rossi

Today, Wednesday, the European Commission will make a statement on the plan put forward by Greece for reducing its debts. Other countries also have enormous public deficits, the daily Le Monde points out, and compares their plans to reduce their debts: "The situation is the same in the United States: the public deficit, which amounts to 10.6 percent this year, is to be squeezed down to around four percent in 2013. In all three cases - Greece, France and the United States - the logic is the same. After the governments granted as much credit as possible a year ago to counter the crisis and reassure the general public, they are now swinging in the opposite direction - also in an attempt to reassure the public. ... The outcome of the crisis is looking awkward both politically and socially - as the revival of populism shows. Then there's the fact that numerous capitals are keeping a very close eye on whether the Greeks will accept the pending economic constraints or not." (02/02/2010)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » France, » Greece, » U.S.

The rising national debts of Western countries could lead to higher interest rates and even larger deficits. We could all suffer the same fate as Greece, the liberal daily NRC Handelsblad warns: "US President Obama has promised to bring the deficit down to four percent in four years. That will be a difficult task. The same goes for European countries, although in many of them - above all Germany - the problem seems less serious. But Europe must be watchful to ensure that the euro countries aren't played off against each other. The difference between the West and Asia is growing increasingly apparent. This is reflected in the new state of affairs in the global economy. ... More state investement in Asian countries with a budget surplus would be desirable, as well as the consolidation of Western budgets. For it was the imbalances in the global economy that were the main cause for the credit crunch. It is everyone's duty to reduce these imbalances, otherwise we could face another financial earthquake." (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Greece, » Global

Approximately 50,000 Romanians study in foreign countries. In the weekly Dilema Veche, Sebastian Burduja, the leader of the association of Rumanian students studying abroad, points out the problems for potential returnees: "The real risk is that Romania turn its back on these valuable young people, for they represent a danger to all those who have not earned their success - especially those in public institutions. Nevertheless, the modernisation of the country should come first and foremost from the governing sector, through a political will for courageous reforms. These changes, however, are mostly dependent on the beneficiaries of the current system. Under what circumstances would they voluntarily give up their accumulated power? Perhaps 100 of us [students] of the new generation will have the courage in the medium- and long term to return to Romania. ... In light of these circumstances, our mission will not be an easy one, but it appears to be an opportune moment." (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Migration, » Integration, » Demographics, » Global, » Romania
All available articles from » Sebastian Burduja

In many countries in Eastern Europe, tolerance toward gays and lesbians is on the rise - but not in Lithuania, the news agency Delfi laments: "It is true that since 1993 there has been a law prohibiting discrimination against sexual minorities, but in our country gay parades are unimaginable after the 2006 and 2007 law forbidding such gatherings in Vilnius for security reasons. The reason given for this law was the poll results showing that 81 percent of Lithuanians regard homosexuality as a sickness. ... It appears that the majority of Lithuanians live in a different world to that of Western Europeans, where this problem doesn't exist at all. ... In the end, Lithuania will be forced to adhere to EU norms, no matter how much certain organisations and citizens are against them. We cannot change EU policies, but we have succeeded in presenting ourselves as a nation of homophobic fanatics who don't respect human rights." (03/02/2010)

» full article (external link, Lithunian)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Minorities, » Health and Medicine, » Weltanschauung, » Gender equality, » Lithuania
All available articles from » Valentinas Mitė